Bad dream
by crimeson-plasma
Summary: Whenever he had a bad dream I would comfort him instinctively, even with Sabo's teasing smiles and coments that always followed after this. I always did this, and it was a wonder that Luffy didn't notice. Of course I didn't expect him to do the same thing


Here is a small one-shot that came to my mind about a week ago, but that I didn't find the time to start writing. I hope you like it! There are spoilers for the end of the Sabo ark! You have been warned! Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own One Piece.

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It had all started one day, in our secret hideout, when Luffy had a nightmare. it hadn't happened before, and if it had I had been asleep and hadn't noticed. That night I couldn't manage to sleep. I simply couldn't manage to do it, and in the late hours of the night, when I was just about to fall asleep, I heard Luffy muttering something in his sleep.

"N-no, don't leave me alone" He said with a low and terrified voice, while he shivered and tears dropped from his eyes.

He continued shivering and moving around his futon, with obvious discomfort, and continued muttering similar things. This annoyed me to no end at first, since I had been about to fall asleep but hadn't managed to because of Luffy. I was about to shout him to shut up when he muttered something that made me stop right in my tracks.

"No! Ace, Sabo! Don't go away, don't leave me here!" He then muttered again, right as he started shivering, moving around and crying more.

I was shocked by this. At first i hadn't bothered in trying to discover what my younger brother's dream was, and I had supposed it was about his family or something, but he was dreaming that we... I immediately started feeling bad for my younger brother, and I tried to think of how to calm him down, how to assure him silently that we would always be beside him. That I would always be with him. Luffy continued muttering things and moving around more due to his nightmare. Some time passed as this persisted, and it was after some minutes, when Luffy repeated the same thing that had shocked me before that I finally did something without even thinking about it. I got closer to Luffy, that was about half a meter away, and hugged him tightly, as the younger boy continued crying and muttering things. I got even closer to him and tried to soothe him by rubbing my hand against the back of his head, which did seem to have results, and then whispering to him that we would never leave him. That I would never leave him. That he would never be left alone.

When I woke up the next day I was still hugging tightly Luffy. I hadn't even noticed that I had fallen asleep in this position, and of course Luffy was still asleep too. It seemed to be about midday, and Sabo wasn't sleeping. I got up, and went to the lookout tower that we had built ourselves, feeling a bit hungry. I soon saw Sabo there, and he turned around and looked at me with a devilish grin painted on his face. I couldn't help but blush a little, and before he could say anything I told him to shut up, blushing harder.

The same thing repeated itself randomly during the next days and weeks. Luffy would have a nightmare, that usually was about him being left alone, and I would end up comforting him in the same way that I had done the first time. It came out instinctively, and I couldn't stop myself from doing it even with all the teasing comments that Sabo had told me every time that I had done it, since he usually woke up the first. I always blushed at this and at all his teasing hints that he said, and I just thanked god that Luffy didn't hear anything of this and still didn't know about someone comforting him when he had nightmares. He had noticed having less nightmares lately, but had no idea why.

Every time that I did this when Luffy had a nightmare my heart would end up beating fast, and I would immediately blush at the mention of me doing this. I still managed to maintain my composure around Luffy, and I had even done an unspoken pact with Sabo about not saying anything at all of all of this to Luffy. Of course my thinking and my rational side never stopped me from doing the same thing over and over again, and I eventually reached a point where I did this whenever I felt that Luffy was about to have a bad dream, whether this was true or not. It felt nice, and I always managed to calm my younger brother, but I never knew why it felt nice, nor why my heart beat so fast.

It was after Sabo's death when these night mares became more frequent, crueller and vivid. Luffy would have them almost every night, even after he had accepted our brother's death . He would usually dream about me dying, being left alone many similar horrible things, that involved all kinds of things, from imagining Sabo's death to watching horrible things being made to me. I didn't like him "Killing me off", but when he had these dreams I wouldn't say him to stop thinking that, but instead hug him tightly and soothe him like I had been doing for some time now. Months passed, and Luffy still had these nightmares, that although more frequent than before Sabo's death, had decreased in number and frequency quite a lot. Luffy also remained completely ignorant of what happened when he had a nightmare.

It had all been like this until now. I still felt the same way, and I didn't even know why, and I now reacted automatically when I heard Luffy cry in his sleep, saying something or move with discomfort. Sometimes I even did it just to make sure he was okay, or that is what I told myself, since doing this not only relaxed and soothed Luffy but also relaxed and soothed me. This particular night had been going more quiet than usual, and I couldn't sleep either. I was staring aimlessly at the roof, waiting for me to fall asleep or for something to happen. I was fine with either of the two. However the absolutely silence was broken suddenly by Luffy.

"N-no! Sabo already died, don't kill Ace!" Luffy suddenly said, with a voice that sounded more terrified than I had ever heard.

I was shocked, just to say the least. Luffy was dreaming that someone was going to kill me, and he obviously wasn't happy about that. I was shocked by this. I knew that he liked me, but I had never heard anyone say that I would be better alive than dead. I was the son of the devil. No one should want me alive. I was about to hug Luffy, as always when he said something else.

"Don't kill him! Take me instead!" Luffy suddenly said, with that distressed voice.

I felt like I was about to cry. Luffy was going to... sacrifice himself for me? It was only a dream, but... he was going to...!

I hugged tightly Luffy, and rubbed the back of his head with my hand. I tried to whisper soothing words to him, but instead I could only cry as I suddenly remembered all the bad comments that I had heard about me and what had happened to Sabo. How almost everyone had said that I would be better dead, and how Luffy was willing to give up his life and dreams for me. "Luffy, you!" I said as I cried, not being able to stop myself from doing so.

I remained like this for quite some time, I am not completely sure of how much, until I felt two thin arms hug me back and grabbing me tightly. I opened my eyes, with surprise, and then realised that Luffy was the one trying to soothe me, while he stared right into my eyes. He then started to rub my head with his rubbery hand, in the same manner that I had done before, and smiled.

"Ace, I will always be with you" He then whispered into my ear, with a goofy smile on his face. I was shocked by this, and couldn't stop myself from hugging him even tighter. He did the same thing too.

We remained like this for the rest of the night, even after we fell asleep, and as time passed this occasionally repeated itself, for one and another. It took me quite long for me to know why my heard beat so fast when this happened, and a while that was even longer to feel Luffy's also fast beating one when this happened. We would always have each other, for the good and the bad things. Always be with the other to comfort each other. Always.


End file.
